Thursday, December 28, 2017

The Courage to Create

I have been trying to start a book during my Christmas break with limited success. My inspiration is the composer Philip Glass; I recently read his memoir and watched the documentary of his  life. His thoughts about creativity is insightful; this lesson may be what I have been missing to spur me into the next level.

Creativity is really an act of losing one's sense of self; of not watching yourself when you start your work. The writer ( or composer) forgets what he has written during the act of creation, just going right ahead until he or she finishes his task. In other words, he loses himself in creativity; his mind does not stop him with self-doubt or churning thoughts.

The problem is that the mind does not free itself from it's persona; where one keeps looking at himself during the act of creative writing; the mind holding him back from the freedom of creativity. This is the main problem: the fear of freedom. One must have the courage to create which is a title of a book I read long ago.

The sensation is similar to expressive writing; where one just dumps the thoughts in his brain. Recently, I printed out all my typed journal writing as well as the contents of this blog. I was amazed with the volume of work. Re-reading my entries made me recall those events that happened long ago. I was surprised that I had written those words. I had forgotten what I have written during the act of creation.

The trick is to convert the act of 'abandon' during expressive writing in journals into the process of creative writing; the craft of a novelist. These thoughts come to mind when Glass said he does not recall his compositions when people asked him what he was thinking at the time he was composing his works. He had lost his 'persona'; of himself watching himself when writing.

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